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    #1

    Re-install question

    Hello from the storm lashed North of Scotland!

    I've read that it's a good idea to have a separate partition for your home directory.
    If I need to do a re-install do I have to do a back-up of it and then copy it back?
    Also, what sort of proportion of a 160GB drive should be given to home?

    Thanks for any advice I bet I have to buy an external hard drive!
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    #2
    Re: Re-install question

    Some people think it is a good idea and some don't. Most who give /home a separate partition do so because they feel it makes it easier to backup and restore the /home account and all of its configuration files, emails, personal files, etc.

    From my perspective it is just as easy to backup my home directory DATA to one or more DVDs, do a clean install, install the apps I use, then restore or import my DATA from my home account backup.

    Here is a recent FAQ with the pros and cons for partitioning: http://linuxmafia.com/~karsten/Linux...partition.html


    Personally, while multiple primary partitions makes sense for servers, for single user work stations having just one partition, "/" (called root but not to be confused with /root, which is root's home account). Using just "/" makes free disk space available to any process or account. No process or account has too much, nor will any have too little, unless the entire disk space is used up. This makes installation of Linux workstations a snap. Give the entire HD to it, and when asked create a swap partition which is twice the size of available RAM, and the rest goes to "/".

    "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
    – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.
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      #3
      Re: Re-install question

      Also, for reading, this:

      Partitioning—how to, Rog131:
      http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3090704.0
      An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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        #4
        Re: Re-install question

        Wow! Information, and lots of it!
        Thanks for the links, I have to do three fresh installs and I wanted to get it right.
        I now have something to think about.
        I may yet become a Linux expert...
        Thanks again.
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          #5
          Re: Re-install question

          Whether you do or you don't, it must never of course be used as a substitute for backing up

          On balance I would say do have a separate home partition, if only to ensure that you properly segregate your data and config files from the rest of the system. The thing about events that result in a need to reinstall is that they are only predictable after the event. Sods law dictates that things will never go wrong immediately after a backup. My experience is that segregating the home directory reduces the risk of losing data via a reinstall. It also gives the possibility of installing the next version when it comes out without having to do everything entirely from scratch.

          It is each to their own of course, but it has served me well the last couple of years.
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